A mixed team of players from the Te Mata polocrosse club, Quintin Abraham, Phil Havord, Nadine Newman-Dempster, Beth Paken, Fraser Donnolly, Shane Hill and Scotty McNab ventured down to the 2007 Nelson A & P show on the 24th and 25th of November to demonstrate the flair and skill of the sport. Also participating in this demonstration was Nelson based Putaruru Tirau club member Dwayne McKay.

This diverse selection of players took to the field to display the range of levels within the sport and to give the sense that anyone can participate in this game.
The horse performance was of a high-standard which impressed the crowd  despite the horses having to deal with a long trip down to Nelson, a flying ‘Kamikaze’ and other horse events.

On the first day the players had to play on a field half the size of its original length which made it difficult to show the speed of the game. On the second day the team managed to create a larger field, so a full chukka of six players were able to play which made for an exciting game of polocrosse for the crowd.

The public were very receptive to the demonstration, and Alistair Cumming’s animated commentary created an exciting atmosphere and attracted public attention. The players put on a great show for the public who were very impressed with the skill level of the game and how much fun you can have on horseback.

There was significant public interest and curiosity about the sport with a few South Islanders willing to give the game of polocrosse a try.

Everyone had a fantastic three days with highlights being, watching the shearing finals, listening to Fraser sing ‘Return to Sender’ on karaoke night, Phil introducing himself to the friendly ‘coppa’ and having a good ‘feed’ of whitebait fritters for lunch everyday.